was reviewing intentional foul rules and need clarification...how do you judge excessive contact but yet not allow the severity of the foul. had a fast break situation where A would have had an easy basket but B(while playing the ball)had a hard foul on A...blocked the shot but lots of body...how do you call this.

I think you answered your own question. Blocking foul on B.

thanks for the reply...dont understand your answer...i called intentional because of the excessive contact...coach didnt like it because he said it was just a hard foul...what im trying to understand is, when does excessive contact become intentional, verses, just a hard foul?

On your play, if you felt the contact itself was dangerous to the shooter, the intentional is warranted. There are essentially two criteria for an intentional foul, either of which is sufficient without the other.
First, obviously, is when the player is not really trying to defend but is simply trying to foul. This is your push in the back on an airborne shooter and other such fouls.
Second is the excessive contact. Players can't just go flying at a player just because they're trying to get at the ball. It's a tough call, but sometimes it has to be made to settle the players down.
Bottom line, it's judgment. If you thought it was excessive, then you made a good call. As often is the case, ignore the coach. He just trying to get into your head.

Actually I think he answered his own question. An intentional foul on B. :D

There is no such thing as a hard foul. It's coach-speak.

For an official a hard foul means EXCESSIVE CONTACT, which by rule means intentional.

I had one the other day where the defender jumped had the shooter by the shoulder/neck with their left arm, blocked the shot with their right, smacked the shooter in the head on the follow through, and landed with both arms around the shooters head. They then finished it off with a little push at the end. I closed fast with the X saying, "Intentional, it's hard."

I would agree if he deemed the contact excessive. However, the way he described it, it didn't sound like it was, however I know it's one of those situations that you have to see.

'Going for the ball' doesn't mean that you have a license to mug someone. I call an intentional foul if I think it's there, particularly early to make sure the play doesn't get out of hand. I'm not looking for an IF, but I'll call it if I need to. And yes, coaches tend to think we shouldn't be so harsh on these types of situations.

Have you read those notes sent out in various updates that are sent to officials? One of them says that if the coach tells someone to foul an opponent, then it should be construed as an intentional foul. Yeah, right. Try calling that one and see how well it goes over.

The coach whose player does the fouling thinks we shouldn't be so harsh. THe coach whose player is crumpled up in a heap on the floor wonders why we aren't harsher!